Camille Lefebvre occupe la position de ‘Retained Lecturer in Law’ auprès de Jesus College à l’Université d’Oxford. Ses travaux portent sur les droits de la personne, la criminalisation, le droit international public, ainsi que le droit international des migrations et des réfugiés. En janvier 2027, elle entreprendra un stage de recherche postdoctorale à l’Université d’Oxford, financé par une subvention du Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ), à la suite de l’obtention de son doctorat à l’Université de Leiden, dans le cadre d’une cotutelle avec l’Université Laval. Elle est également chercheuse invitée 2026 au Lauterpacht Centre for International Law de l’Université de Cambridge et travaille à temps partiel comme avocate pour le Canada dans le cadre de procédures devant la Cour internationale de Justice. Elle a auparavant occupé les fonctions de conseillère juridique du Canada aux Pays-Bas par interim, Judicial Fellow auprès du juge Ronny Abraham à la Cour internationale de Justice et auxiliaire juridique auprès de la juge Sylvie Roussel à la Cour d’appel fédérale du Canada.
Elle est coéditrice de The Geopolitics in the Global Compacts (2026). Ses travaux ont notamment été publiés dans le International Journal of Refugee Law, Geopolitics et McGill Law Journal. Sa contribution à un ouvrage collectif chez Oxford University Press paraîtra prochainement, et elle travaille actuellement à la rédaction, en collaboration, d’un ouvrage consacré à la Convention contre la torture, dans le cadre de la collection Travaux Préparatoires des éditions Brill.
Camille siège au conseil d’administration du Conseil canadien de droit international à titre d’administratrice et est membre du comité International Migration and International Law Committee de l’International Law Association. Ses recherches ont bénéficié de diverses bourses, notamment du Fonds de recherche du Québec (2027–2029), du Jeune Barreau de Québec (2024), de la Fondation Pierre Elliott Trudeau (2022–2026), du Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada (2021–2024), du Canadian Council on International Law (2021–2022) et de la Chaire de recherche du Canada sur l’immigration et la sécurité (2020–2021).
Richard v. The Attorney General of Canada: A Critical Analysis of Immigration Detention in Canadian Provincial Jails Under the European Convention on Human Rights
2026
On 5 July 2024, the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario declared admissible a class action lawsuit against Canada’s federal government’s policy of detaining immigrants in provincial jails on the basis that it could amount to a violation of several rights protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In this article, we engage in a hypothetical exercise in which we seek to establish what would be the outcome of the case if it were to be decided under the Council of Europe’s human rights framework in general, and the European Court of Human Rights’ case law on immigration detention specifically. Building on the evidence provided by several national and international organizations, we argue that Canada’s policy of detaining immigrants in provincial jails would amount to cruel and unusual treatment contrary to article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The conclusions of this article are purely speculative, yet they contribute to the painting of a more complete, critical, and complex portrait of Canada’s immigration detention policies from a European perspective. The article also highlights how the focus of both European and Canadian courts on the conditions of detention may overshadow any debates on the legitimacy of immigration detention itself.
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The Geopolitics in the Global Compacts
2026
This book critically examines how states have leveraged the 2018 UN Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees to advance their geopolitical and strategic interests. Through a detailed analysis, it explores the emerging norm of state responsibility for managing migration while exposing the gaps, contradictions, and silences surrounding key issues such as non-refoulement, internal displacement, and climate migration. More than five years after the adoption of the Global Compacts, the authors provide a thought-provoking reflection on the assumptions, logics, and rhetoric underpinning these agreements and their implementation by states and international organizations.
This book is an essential resource for students, scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in the fields of migration studies, international relations, and human rights as well as those seeking to understand the complex interplay between migration diplomacy and global governance.
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The Geopolitics in the Global Compacts: Sovereignty, Emerging Norms, and Hypocrisy in Global Migration Governance
2024
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCM) were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2018. After nearly five years, it is time for a critical reflection on the geopolitical interests that motivated the negotiations, agreements, and implementation. The purpose of this special issue was to critically examine how states used the Global Compacts to achieve their strategic interests using migration diplomacy. Each article attempts to question and problematise the assumptions, logics, and rhetoric put forward in the Global Compacts and resulting implementation by states and international organisations. The special issue also highlights the emerging norm of state responsibility for well-managed migration within the Global Compacts, and the notable silences around non-refoulement, internal displacement, and climate migration. The authors in this special issue worked to understand the gaps, hypocrisy, and contradictions in the implementation, now five years after the adoption of the Global Compacts. This introduction article lays out the driving questions for the special issue, along with our main themes, concepts, and contributions.
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National policies on immigration detention and the global compacts: A comparative analysis of Canada and France
2024
The adoption of the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees in 2018 marked a turning point in international migration governance. According to objective 13 of the Global Compact for Migration, States Parties have committed to use immigration detention as a measure of last resort and work towards alternatives. As for the Global Compact on Refugees, States Parties and relevant stakeholders also pledged to contribute to the development of non-custodial and community-based alternatives to detention, particularly with respect to children. Five years later, the enhancement of human rights protection for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers within national territories remains a challenge. We argue that two states of the Global North – Canada and France – are actually using the Global Compacts to push forward their own agenda on the international scene, as a tool to influence other states. Even if Canada and France have engaged in multilateral discussions on the regulation of migration and the protection of refugees through soft law instruments, we find that national practices have not been altered since 2018. As such, this paper will demonstrate that the implementation of the Global Compacts is, in fact, used to advance foreign national policy for both states.
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The exclusion clause in Canada: Prioritizing practical expediency
2021
Applying the Canadian legal framework for refugees in compliance with binding international instruments has entailed significant challenges. In order to fulfil its dual obligations of protecting people under threat of torture and persecution, while denying refugee status to those responsible for such atrocities, Canada relies on the exclusion clause of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees as a practical and expedient solution. This article provides a comprehensive review of the jurisprudence related to Canada’s exclusion system, examining the judicial reasoning of decisions issued by the Immigration and Refugee Board, the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. The analysis endorses the position that Canada’s continuing prioritization of security trumps humanitarian aims by an overly broad application of article 1F of the Refugee Convention. The interpretation of Canadian judiciary can lead to the improper application of international law, prompting the need for a reassessment of the Canadian exclusion system 70 years after the adoption of the Refugee Convention.
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Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ) - Bourse postdoctorale
2027-2029
Scholarship to pursue postgraduate research at the University of Oxford
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Louis-Philippe Pigeon Award
2024
Award recognizing the exceptional contribution of a member of the Young Bar of Québec
Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship
2021
Awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified graduate students.
John Peters Humphrey Fellowship, Canadian Council on International Law
2021
National award to two or three outstanding students to pursue full-time graduate studies in International Human Rights Law
Canada Research Chair in Immigration & Security Scholarship
2020
Scholarship to pursue full-time graduate studies on migration and security related issues.
